United comes in last as airline ratings improve

April 08, 2013|By Gregory Karp | Tribune reporter

A United jet comes in for a landing at O'Hare International Airport in a 2010 file photo. (Chris Sweda/Tribune)

Chicago's most dominant airline, United Airlines, rated worst in America last year for the flying public, although the airline industry overall performed at a high level in 2012, according to a report released Monday.

The latest Airline Quality Rating, a joint project of researchers at Purdue University and Wichita State University, shows U.S. airlines overall did well with four measures critical to consumers -- on-time performance, baggage handling, customer complaints and being involuntarily bumped from a flight.

Airlines as a group in 2012 scored the second-highest ever, according to the study which started in 1991 and is based on the four consumer metrics measured by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Only 2011 was better.

"It is good news for the industry and consumers that we are still at a high level of overall performance, but it's not perfect," said Brent Bowen, head of the Department of Aviation Technology at Purdue University and one of the authors of the study.

It was also far from perfect among carriers dominant in the Chicago region.

United Airlines, which is Chicago-based and the largest carrier in the region, ranked dead last among the 14 airlines ranked, slipping from 12th in 2011 to the bottom. Its ratings declined for on-time takeoffs, handling checked bags, consumer complaints and denied boardings. United last year combined operations, including computer systems, with Continental Airlines. That led to glitches and inefficiencies that caused flight delays and cancellations during the year, especially during the busy summer travel season. United's operations have improved since last summer, the latest statistics show.

United spokesman Rahsaan Johnson said the 2012 numbers do not reflect the experience of United passengers today, or even over the past six months.

"United's operations improved significantly in the fall of 2012, and we continue to meet or exceed our on-time standards and set new records for performance," he said. "Customer satisfaction is up, complaints are down dramatically, and we are improving our customers' experience."

The region's No. 2 carrier, American Airlines ranked 10th, although its score matched the U.S. airline industry's. American Airlines tied with ExpressJet (which operates regional flights as United Express, American Eagle and Delta Connection) for the worst on-time performance, 76.9 percent. Last fall, American experienced labor-dispute problems with its pilots that coincided with rampant flight delays.

American Eagle, American's regional jet service, had the worst baggage handling rate -- as it did in 2011 too -- at nearly 6 lost bags per 1,000 passengers.

Even consumer-friendly Southwest Airlines, the largest carrier out of Chicago Midway airport, is getting more "middle-of-the-packish." It slipped from seventh to eighth of 14 airlines. However, it had the lowest consumer complaint rate among the 14 airlines. And AirTran, which is merging with Southwest, declined from the top spot overall to No. 3. "That doesn't bode well for their forthcoming merger," Bowen said.

Mergers generally lead to lower ranking on consumer measures, Bowen said. That also doesn't bode well for the traveling public, he said, because of the upcoming merger of American and US Airways, which ranked ninth.

The top airline in America, at least based on the four consumer measures, was Virgin America, followed by JetBlue. Delta Air Lines, at No. 4, ranked far higher than any other so-called legacy airline.

The industry as a whole improved with on-time performance and baggage handling, but slipped with consumer complaints and denied boardings. On-time arrival increased to 81.8 percent in 2012, up from 80 percent in 2011. Mishandled baggage improved to 3.07 per 1,000 passengers from 3.35 mishandled bags the year before. However, consumer complaints increased to 1.43 per 100,000 passengers from 1.19 in 2011. Denied boardings worsened to 0.97 per 10,000 passengers from 0.78.

Last year's generally positive results might confound the frustrated flying public, which was subjected to crowded planes and a plethora of add-on fees that surveys show customers hate.

Bowen conceded that while airlines performed well on some objective measures, subjective discontent is really only reflected in the airline complaint category — and that's one of the factors that worsened in 2012.

"The traveling public looks at the overall experience, not just the major categories," Bowen said. "The traveler holds the airline they're flying on responsible for everything."

For example, travelers often blame the airline if they encounter long security lines at the airport or for weather delays.

"It's not the FAA's fault or God's fault, it's the airline they're flying on today," he said. "As a consumer, we base our experience on who we sent our money to."